Kelsea Ballerini Celebrates Debut #1

It’s something unique to Nashville: The artist, the songwriters, the record label, and country radio all get together to celebrate a #1 song.  They’re always special affairs, and we always try to attend.  But it’s particularly special when it’s the very first #1 for the artist.  For Kelsea Ballerini, it was not only the first for the artist, but the first #1 for a female all year, and the first debut #1 for a female since Carrie Underwood did it 9 years ago.  And it was the first #1 for her record label: Black River.  So this was a very special party, and a lot of people were there to celebrate.  We caught up with Kelsea before the party began to talk about “Love Me Like You Mean It.”

So what are your thoughts today? I feel like, one of the things that makes me so proud of this song is it wasn’t supposed to.  I’m a new female on an independent label.  We didn’t expect it.  My personal goal was Top 30, and it kept going.  When it hit #1, it sinks in in little chunks, but today will be a big one.

How do you see the power of the song? The way I see it being #1 is doing shows, and seeing everyone sing it, that’s how I let it sink in, everyone knows it, and that’s the power of radio.  Up until today, it’s been doing live shows and seeing the reaction get bigger and bigger.  That’s how you know it’s #1.

It’s crazy.  I think it was the first debut #1 from a female since Carrie 9 years ago, which makes me so excited because she’s had such a brilliant career since then. It makes me excited to keep going because I’d like to have a career like hers.

Talk about meeting Taylor Swift: I am such a fan of hers, and was doing a radio show outside her show in Pittsburgh, and got invited to see her show, and her special guests were Little Big Town, and then afterwards, we all got together and sang each other’s songs.  It was such an unforgettable moment for me.

I’ve always had this peace that this is what I was supposed to do.  So I’ll always be happy as long as I do music.  But having songs on the radio is a fun part of that that I’d like to keep doing as much as I can.

 

Tags: kelsea ballerini

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